Click
by beyondinfinite
Summary: Five years. Five years since they last saw each other. He would be twenty-one today. Maybe a little call wouldn't hurt... Two-shot.
1. Calling

_Chapter One: Calling_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Yumeiro Patissiere, and never will._

* * *

_Ring, ring._Amano Ichigo rubbed her forehead and then got up from her bed. She went to the living room to answer the phone.

"Hello?" Her voice was a bit hoarse from lack of water. She rubbed her sleepy eyes.

"Ichigo-chan! Good morning! Did I wake you?" As usual, it was Kato Rumi. She'd been calling every morning, without fail, for the past five years. She was that supportive of a friend. Why she had to be supportive, we are yet to find out.

"Yes, yes you did," Ichigo grumbled, "well, what's up?"

Rumi sighed and then said, "You forgot to check the calendar, Ichigo."

The brunette was surprised. She ran to the calendar on her bedside cabinet. _April 24_. What was so special about it?

She ran to the phone and then heaved a sigh. "I checked all right. What about the-..."

She stopped midsentence. Oh yeah, Kashino's birthday. She hadn't healed yet; at least, that was what she thought. She was this close to moving on, and now...

"I see. Well, I'll see you tonight, Ichigo! Movie night, remember?" Friday was movie night. Right. Ichigo seemed to forget tons of things today.

Her eyes scanned the list as she scrolled down her phone. Hanabusa Satsuki, Kato Rumi... Kashino Makoto. Ichigo's palms sweat as she pressed the green button.

A few seconds passed, and then... _click._

* * *

"Hello?" That voice. It was still the same after all those years. Still the same, even after he left them. No good byes. He just left.

She stuttered. "K-Ka-Kashino?"

"That would be my name. Who's this?"

"Hi, Kashino. It's me, Ichigo. Uhh, I just wanted to greet you a happy birthday. E-even if I haven't seen you in a while, I still want you to know that we all miss you and that I wish you the best of luck." The way she said it was rushed, like she just wanted it to be over. But what she was feeling was the exact opposite. She somehow did not want this phone call to end. She was holding on to that slip of hope, the main reason she hadn't completely moved on.

There was silence for some time. Ichigo was about to think that he'd hung up on her when he answered. "Thanks. I... I miss you guys too. Listen, I'm coming over to Japan at midnight tonight, and I'm staying for good this time. Do you want to meet up with me tomorrow at the old coffee shop downtown?"

A faint blush crept up the brunette's cheeks. Without skipping a beat, she affirmed. "Yeah, I would love to meet up with you tomorrow. What time?"

"Around eight in the morning, I suppose. See you then. Bye." A soft click was heard and then... nothing more. Ichigo hung up the phone and then called Rumi again.

"Listen, Rumi-chan. I'm coming over in a few hours. I know movie night is at 8, but expect me to be over there at about 3, okay?" Her words were slow, and well rehearsed. Her hands were shaking as she told Rumi the details of her arrival.

To say the least, Rumi was shocked. Ichigo was known to be late at times. What happened that made her decide to come 5 hours earlier? "Sure, Ichigo. Whatever you say."

_Click._

* * *

A long bath, a quick trip to the bakery and a short stop for doughnuts later, Ichigo arrived at Rumi's apartment building.

"Good afternoon, Amano-san," the courteous lobby guard greeted her.

He knew her because she came over every other day. It was no surprise. Ichigo nodded at him, and then walked to the elevator.

When she reached the fourteenth floor, she walked down the hallway and then pressed the buzzer of her friend's flat.

A few seconds later, a cold breeze hit her. Rumi opened the air conditioner, she remarked. Her friend waved. "Why'd you decide to come early?"

"I didn't have much to do, and I got bored at home, so I came by early. See, I brought doughnuts!" She showed Rumi the box. For one thing, it was big. Knowing Ichigo, she would've bought a lot. Rumi stepped to the side and then let her friend come in. She took the doughnut box from the brunette, and then led her to the TV Room.

Once properly seated, the two girls turned to one another.

"What's up, Ichigo? What happened after I called? Is it... you know, him?" Rumi chose her words carefully, saying them slowly. Who knows what Ichigo might do?

"I called him, Rumi. I called him to say Happy Birthday. You wouldn't know how relieved I was to know that all this time, I still had his phone number. And, he told me that he wanted to meet up with me tomorrow."

* * *

After a few minutes of reassuring, they started the movie. Yes, it was still 4 in the afternoon, but they decided on having a movie marathon instead. Rumi made popcorn, and so they watched until 10pm.

When it was time to leave, they hugged and then Ichigo went on her way. Both were thinking of what was to come the day after.


	2. Coffee

**_Coffee_**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own Yumeiro Patissiere. Sigh_**

* * *

She woke up very early on Saturday morning. Rumi called at exactly six, reassuring her once again, about the meet-up.

"Its going to be fine!" She had said.

She spent the next hour preparing. She took a long hot bath, braided her hair, picked out a pink dress that reached her knees, and cleaned her white shoes. She decided to come leave 30 minutes earlier. She waited five years. Can't miss this opportunity, can she?

She took a walk to the cafe. It wasn't that far, and she wanted to kill time. She arrive ten minutes before 8. By then, the butterflies in her stomach were already appearing, and she was going frantic. She sat at a table for two, and waited patiently.

At precisely 8 am, the birthday boy arrived. He strode over to her table, and then took a seat. There was some uncomfortable tension between the two. Silence.

Neither said a word. Ichigo looked hard at the table while Kashino was looking from side to side.

_Ehem_. They turned around and saw the waitress. She was about to take their order. She had no idea why these kids were taking so long, and being impatient in the morning wasn't good.

"What would you like, dears?"

"I want hot chocolate, please." Ichigo had never quite grown accustomed to coffee. She raised her eyebrows at Kashino, and then averted her gaze.

"I'll have a coffee, creamer and sugar please." The waitress seemed satisfied with this answer, so she left the two alone.

_Ehem_. It wasn't the waitress this time. It was Ichigo. "So.. So why did you want to meet up with me? You'd better start talking soon, because I have much better things to do than sit here and play mind games."

Of course she was lying. She'd rather have him here and say nothing than go to a boring meeting. He held her gaze, and then blinked.

"I called you here to say sorry. I wanted to apologize for leaving you guys so suddenly five years ago. I didn't really give an appropriate goodbye." He was rambling, but at least he was talking.

"Why me? You could've called Hanabusa or Andou." She was curious, yes she was. But she was also hopeful. Hopeful that he hadn't given up on her. On them.

"I came to you because, well, I didn't really tell you things I should've told you five years ago. And I regret it."

Her heart was beating so fast, she almost forgot to breathe. _Inhale_, _exhale_.

"Things like...?"

He was about to say something.

"Things like," he paused, "my feelings for you."

Her heart practically stopped. She couldn't find her voice. She shut her eyes, and then willed herself to speak.

"I never thought you had feelings for me." She mumbled, bitterly.

"Well, you thought wrong." He told her softly. He held her gaze for what seemed like an eternity.

She couldn't speak again. What was she supposed to do? Tell him about her feelings?

"I had things to tell you too, you know. But then, you left all of a sudden, without telling even one of us where you went. I was _heartbroken_." Her voice was so _close_ to breaking."And I thought that you didn't want to be with us anymore. That's what I've been thinking these past five years. Why did you leave anyways?"

He caught sight of a glistening tear down her cheek, before she wiped it away hastily. She sniffed. _Great. She's crying._

"That's one of the things I wanted to talk to you about, too. I received a call from my uncle in Paris. He was in his deathbed, so he told me to take care of his business. I inherited his money, Ichigo. That was a big thing, since my parents took away all my credit cards that time. And now, I'm setting up a branch of the business here in Japan. So, that's why I came back."

The impact of what he said hit her hard, which caused her to sniffle louder. "You couldn't write emails or letters?"

"I did! But then, you guys had either moved houses, or changed emails. Everything I sent was sent back to me. I was so confused, so I told my uncle that I had to go back here. But then, I didn't even know where you guys lived. So I stayed there for five years. Happy?" His voice was gentle and sweet. He was sincere.

Ichigo nodded. She stood up from the table, her chocolate mug only half empty. Kashino followed suit, and then he stepped towards her. He wrapped his arms around her, and then hugged her tight. It took about two seconds for her to react, but he was glad that he did. She smiled, and then hugged him back. "I've missed you."

_End._

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_A/N: Thanks for reading this story! :) Please check out my other stuff. Haha. Review, please. :_


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